Helping Has Its Price
by TofuPirate
Summary: CSI Nick Stokes will learn price of being a Good Samaritan. Chapter 5 is up!
1. To Lend A Helping Hand

**Title: **Helping Has Its Price**  
Rating: **T (To be safe)  
**Summary: **CSI Nick Stokes will learn price of being a Good Samaritan. The night he helps a woman with her car, is the same night that she ends up being killed. Nick was the last person spotted being with the woman, so he is a prime suspect...  
**A/N:** I got the idea for this, and just **_had_** to write it. I'll still be updating my other fan fiction Curiosity Killed The Cat, but I just had to write this! Anyways, I hope that most of the information in here I used was correct (road names, the grocery store), I did research to make sure that I got the right names for things. Anyways, you can review and let me know what you thought ofthis chapterif you'd like :)

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**Chapter 1 - **To Lend A Helping Hand 

It was an unusually warm October evening when 30 year old-- Emily Jordan finally got the chance to stop by a grocery store. She worked as an assistant to the manager of an advertising company, and always stayed long after everyone had left. Just to ensure that the office was left in top shape. Everyone she worked with called her a perfectionist, and that was one of the reasons that she was hired to do the job that she did.

She was grateful for the 24 hours stores, so that she could do her routine errands once she was sure that everything in the office was in order. It was also more peaceful, as opposed to shopping during the day. There weren't as many lines, and less people to weave around as she searched for the items she needed to buy.

After her shopping was done, she took the items that she had bought out to her car. It was now dark outside, but it didn't matter much to her, the lights outside of the store were enough to show the way to her car. Once she arrived at her car, she set the grocery bags on the roof as she tried to open the door.

"Damn door," she muttered under her breathe as she tugged on the handle.

The door to her car stuck every so often, and she made a note to get it fixed as soon as she had the time.

"Oh come on! I want to get home before my ice cream melts!" she said, this time a little louder as she fought with the handle on her car.

Meanwhile, CSI Nick Stokes was just leaving the very same grocery store. He'd been given the night off after a case had involved someone that he used to know, so he decided that he'd head over to the store and rent a movie, and maybe buy some popcorn.

After leaving the store, he walked out to his car when he spotted the woman fighting with her car door. Deciding that he would be a Good Samaritan, he walked over to the woman and asked if she needed any help.

"It's this stupid door, sometimes it sticks, but it's never gotten this bad. I really need to have this looked at," Emily replied.

Nick offered to give her a hand, and tried to pull the door open. Unfortunately, he couldn't even get the door to budge.

"Thanks anyway, don't worry, I'll get this open. Sometimes you just have to kick it or something," Emily laughed as she kicked the door, then pulled the handle and opened the door. "Finally!" she exclaimed with triumph as she placed her bags in the passenger's seat of the car.

Nick smiled and walked away, looking over his shoulder to see Emily getting into her car and drive away.

* * *

"All right. We've got a body found in a car over on Fremont Street. Looks to be a homicide, but we're not making any assumptions. Catherine, you are going to go question our eyewitness, Brass is over there waiting. Greg, Sara, you two are going to come help me process the scene. Warrick, I've got a robbery over at Whitehall Co Jewelers, I want you to cover that," Grissom explained, "Call up Nicky and get him to help you if you want." 

Not too long after Nick had returned to work after having time off because of the incident that happened to him, Ecklie decided that it would be best to put all of the team on one shift again.

After receiving their assignments, they all left to do what they were told. Over on Fremont Street, detective Jim Brass was waiting with the eyewitness.

"Mr. Williams, this is CSI Willows," Brass introduced.

"Call me George," Mr. Williams replied.

"All right, George. Tell me what you saw," Catherine said.

Williams paused for a moment, most likely trying to remember every detail of what he'd seen.

"That woman. She'd come out of a grocery store. Food 4 Less I think it was. I was getting into my car and I saw that she was having trouble getting her door opened. At least that's what it looked like. I was going to come out and help her but someone else went over there before I got the chance. So I just left, stopped at a few other places, and then decided to head home. On my way I noticed that same car again parked on the side of the road and it had its lights blinking, so I thought that maybe she needed help or something. Since her door didn't open, I assumed her car wasn't in good shape so I assumed that it had broke down or something. I pulled over, and got out of my car and walked over to see if there was anything I could do to help. I looked in the window, and I saw her in the driver's seat... she was covered in blood and I was sure she was dead. I freaked out and then called 911," Williams explained.

"All right. So describe the person you saw go help her get her car door open," Catherine told Mr. Williams.

Again, Williams paused before he spoke. "Umm, it was a man. Sort of tall I guess, maybe... 5'9"... 5'10". Short black hair. At least I think it was black. It was pretty dark outside, so it could have been a dark brown. I couldn't really tell what he was wearing, it was pretty dark, but I did get a look at his face."

Catherine continued to question the witness, and then decided that the witness should be taken to see a forensic artist to get a picture of the guy and see if anyone knew who he was.

_To be continued..._


	2. The Note

**EDIT: I noticed a mistake I made with one of the character names, so I just changed that**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed!Let me know what you think of this chapter if you'd like:) **

**CSIFan4Life-** Thanks! Haha, and we'll just have to wait and see what I have planned : )  
**sabrina -** Yeah, he doesn't get a break, lol I guess that's good for the reader's who like this stuffs! lol  
**Mma63-** Thanks! And I hope this update was soon enough!  
**Onthnis-** Thank you muchly!  
**everybetty-** Thanksss! And here is the next chapter!

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**Chapter 2 - **The Note**  
**  
"Greg, come in here for a second," Catherine said when she spotting him walking by in the hallway. 

He'd found a fingerprint on the car that the victim was found in, and just received an urgent page about it from Jacqui.

"Look at this..." Catherine began, pointing to a picture made by the forensic artist.

Before Catherine had the chance to finish what she was going to say, Greg cut in.

"Why do you have a picture of Nick?" he questioned, but instead of waiting for an answer, he decided to add in a joke. "Is there something going on here that I don't know about?" he gave a fake questioning look.

Catherine wasn't laughing.

"This is a picture of our _suspect_. The witness saw him with the woman before she was killed. He saw the man's face and gave the description to the artist...I guess I'm not the only one who sees the resemblance," she continued.

Greg's jaw dropped. "No way. Nick didn't kill anyone... he couldn't. It's Nick!"

"Let's not jump to any conclusions. Just because this _looks_ like Nick, doesn't mean that he killed anyone."

Greg then remembered the urgent page that he'd received. _Could the print found on the victim's car be Nick's? _

"You paged?" Greg asked as soon as he found Jacqui.

She nodded. "I ran the print you found..."

"And?

"How do I say this..." Jacqui began, but Greg already knew what she was going to say.

"It's Nick's print, isn't it?" he questioned.

Confusion fell upon Jacqui's face, she wasn't sure how he knew what she was going to say. But it was true so she nodded. Greg didn't stay to say anything else. He quickly left the room to call Grissom.

* * *

Nick had just devoured an entire bag of popcorn when he heard his stomach growl. 

"Chips it is!" he laughed as he pressed pause on the remote so he wouldn't miss any of the movie he was watching when he got up to go to the kitchen.

Once he was in the kitchen, he noticed there was an envelope under his front door. His curiosity got the best of him as he walked over and bent down to pick it upto see what was inside.

It was a note.

_**I know you saw. If you tell anyone about it, or this note. I'll kill you. Consider this your warning.** _

Nick's eyes grew wide. _What on earth could this be about?_

"Maybe whoever left this gave it to the wrong person. I didn't see anything even remotely out of the ordinary lately. I haven't got a clue what this person could be talking about," Nick reassured himself out loud, "Yeah, must be the wrong person."

Trying to push the thought out of his mind, he grabbed the bag of chips and returned to watching the movie. A few moments later, a knock fell upon his door and the sound make him jump in fear. Slowly, he pressed pause on the remote once more, and rose to see who was at the door.

To his surprise, he opened it to see Catherine and Brass.

"Nick, we need to ask you a few questions," Catherine began.

Nick was confused, but he nodded nonetheless.

"Do you know a woman by the name of Emily Jordan?" Brass questioned.

Nick thought for a moment and then shook his head. He'd never heard the name before in his life.

Catherine pulled out a photograph taken at the crime scene of Emily and handed it to Nick. The second he laid his eyes on it, he knew who this was. The look on his face was an indication to Catherine and Brass that Nick had seen this woman before.

_The woman from the parking lot. The one who couldn't get her car door open. Was this the Emily they had just asked about? I don't think she told me her name when I tried to help her... so maybe that's who she is. Oh my god... if she's dead... then... they must think I had something to do with it. Someone must have seen me try to get her car door open for her. Wait... the note. Could it have been from her killer? It must have been. He must have thought I saw him. He must be afraid that I would say something to the police._ Nick's thoughts raced.

"You've seen her before?"

"Yeah," Nick nodded.

"When?"

"Last night. I was coming out of Food 4 Less and I saw her having trouble with her car. I walked over and thought I'd give her a hand. She said something about how her door sticks all ofthe time. I tried to help her get it open, but the thing wouldn't budge. She ended up giving it a kick and getting it open for herself, and after she got it open, I went back to my car and she drove off," Nick explained.

"What time was this?"

Nick really wasn't sure. He wasn't wearing a watch when it had happened.

"I'm not sure. It was dark outside, maybe it was around 10:00 pm. I didn't have my watch with me, so I couldn't tell you exactly when it happened," Nick answered.

* * *

"So Doc, what's the C.O.D?" Grissom questioned. 

"Well, she definitely suffered quite a few blows to the head as you can see here," Dr. Al Robbins said as he pointed to the contusions on the victims head, "But they are all post mortem. The cause of death was asphyxiation due to strangulation. You can see the hand prints around her neck."

"What? That doesn't make any sense. Why would someone strangle her to death, and then beat her over the head?" Sara questioned.

"My guess would be to ensure that the job was done... but that's your job to figure out, not mine."

"And we're not making any assumptions," Grissom added.


	3. Phone Call

**A/N: **Wow, it's been quite a while since I've updated this. I guess since I had new ideas for my other fic, I sort of forgot about this one. But yes, here is an update, because **Mma63 **reviewed to my other fic and reminded me about this one. So yes, I am planning to continue it, so here is the next chapter!**

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Chapter 3 - **Phone Call 

_The note, _Nick thought to himself, _if I show them the note, it might clear my name. Also, it might help them figure out who the real murderer is. _

"I have something you both really need to see," Nick began.

Nick thought to himself, "I have something you both really need to see," Nick began. 

He walked into his kitchen, not even giving Brass time to say 'We really need to get this questioning done'. He searched the table where he swore he had set down the note, but it wasn't there.

"No... I _know_ I put it here."

He quickened his search, knowing that it had to be somewhere. A piece of paper just doesn't grow legs and walk away. After what seemed like an eternity of searching, he saw something white on the floor pushed up against the side of the counter. It must have fallen when he'd thrown it onto the counter. Breathing a sigh of relief, he picked it up. Everything was about to be cleared up... so he thought. As he began to walk to where Brass and Catherine were waiting, he heard the distinct sound of his cell phone ringing from within his living room.

_Showing them this note is more important._ Mere seconds after the caller had hung up, Nick heard his cell phone ring once more, and decided that it must be important. As quickly as he could, he rushed over to pick it up.

"Hello," he said into it.

"Don't you dare."

Nick's heart skipped a beat.

"What are you talking about?" Nick questioned, even though in the back of his mind, he had an idea of what the caller was saying.

"You know what I mean. The note. In your hand."

Nick could feel the beads of sweat forming on his face. Whoever had left him that note, whoever had _killed_ that woman was watching him right at that very moment. A part of him wanted to run, run over to Brass and Catherine. He knew that if he made it over there, they could help him and whoever was calling wouldn't be able to hurt him. The other part of him was ordering him to stay. Perhaps it was the part of him that was damaged from everything that had happened to him. From the incident that occurred with the babysitter when he was nine, from being buried alive and being moments from his own death. From the time when he first had a gun held in his face by Mrs. Hendler. From the time when he had a gun held in his face for a second time by the stalker Nigel Crane.

_Nigel. _

Could it be Nigel who was watching him?

_No_, Nick quickly thought, _Nigel is in a jail cell right now paying for what he'd done. It couldn't be him. _

Before Nick had the chance to make a decision on what he was going to do, the person on the other line spoke once more. "I see you've got people at your door. It would be a pity if they had to get hurt because you decided to do something stupid. Something stupid like tell them about this."

Nick froze. He didn't want anyone else to get hurt, just because he wanted to do something to save himself.

"I'm not going to hurt you. As long as you keep my secret, I know you saw me. Every thing will be fine as long as you don't open your big mouth."

The logical part of Nick wasn't in control as his lips formed the word 'okay'. The caller didn't sound very sincere in saying that he wouldn't harm him, but Nick didn't want to do anything to make whoever it was angry.

After the caller had hung up, Nick crumbled up the piece of paper and shoved it into his pocket. He couldn't tell them. He couldn't risk it. The caller...the killer was watching.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't find it. I guess it wasn't really relevant to this case anyway," Nick lied when he finally walked back over to where Brass and Catherine were waiting.

After a few more questions, Brass and Catherine left. The moment they drove off, Nick could feel his heartbeat race. He was alone, and someone was watching him.

Once Nigel was sent to jail, Nick often had nightmares that he was still being watched. That someone was glaring at his every move. That he was no longer safe in his own home. And now, his nightmares were coming to life.

xXxXx

"So, Nick's the suspect for a murder?" Warrick asked when he saw Catherine in the hallway.

"How on earth did you find that out?" she questioned, turning her head to look at Warrick.

"Yeah, half the lab knows. But hey, it's Nicky. He'd never kill anyone," Warrick added with a slight laugh, "I wonder who is trying to set him up for this murder. He sure gets all the bad luck... remember Kristy?" Catherine nodded. Warrick expected at least half a smile to creep upon her face, but he saw nothing.

"He acted so weird when Brass and I went to question him..." Catherine trailed off, starting to walk away.

"Whoa. Wait a second Cath," Warrick said as he caught up with her, "You don't think Nicky did this did you?"

"No, I don't think he did... but I definitely think there's something that he's not telling me."


	4. Rotten Luck

**A/N:** Thank you everyone who reviewed to the last chapter, I'm terribly sorry it took so long for me to write that. But to make it up to you all, here is a quick update for the next chapter. I don't think it's very long, but it's still an update. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope that when I post it the formatting looks okay, because I'm not on the computer I usually post things on, and sometimes with this one, it ends up looking weird once I post it. Oh well, I'll just hope it looks okay. Now I shall stop rambling because it's the chapter you want to read, and not my ramblings. Haha, enjoy!

**Chapter 4 - **Rotten Luck

_I need to get out of this house. I need to get out and I need to get out now. There's a killer watching me. _Nick's thoughts raced.

He frantically pulled on his coat and headed in the direction of the door. His fingers touched the cool metal of the knob when he heard the sound of his cell phone ring. He now realized that writing down the cell phone number right beside his telephone so that he could remember it and call it in case he lost it wasn't such a nifty idea after all. That was probably how the killer found the number in the first place.

_Do I risk it? Do I just run? I'm so close... maybe I could make it outside. But what if he has a gun... and is just waiting to shoot the second he sees me open the door?_

Nick took a deep breath and started to turn the knob when he noticed something fly past his head and into the wood of the door. It was a bullet. The killer _did_ have a gun.

The phone was still ringing and Nick cautiously made his way over to answer it. His hands were trembling, he knew who was calling. He feared for his life.

Trying to hide the shakiness in his voice, he picked it up and quietly said 'Hello'.

"Trying to make an escape I see? I guess I showed you that that's not a very bright idea."

Nick was unsure of how to respond. He closed his eyes, just wishing that he could make himself disappear. He wished with every fibre of his being that every thing was just a dream -- just a horrible nightmare. A nightmare like the ones that kept him up for countless nights. He longed to feel the sense of relief when he would wake up safe in his bed, knowing that what he'd just dreamt hadn't been real.

But this _was_ real.

"You don't have to be afraid of me. I'm not going to hurt you. Just as long as you keep my secret. Also, I don't think that you'll need to be leaving your house. If you're not in your house... it makes it harder for me to watch you. It makes it harder for me to make sure you're not telling your cop friends my secret. You just witnessed wht'll happen when you try to leave your house without telling me."

Nick couldn't tell for sure, but the voice sounded to be that of a man. Although, whoever it was _could_ be disguising their voice. But if I was a man... it could very well be Nigel.

He wanted told himself to ask if it was Nigel but the command died somewhere along the way.

"Well, I suppose I shall be going now. Remember, I'll kill you if you tell."

The killer's voice began sickly casual with those last words. It sent a chill trickling down Nick's spine. The killer made it sound like killing someone was just as socially acceptable as shaking someone's hand. Then again, that's probably how the killer saw things in his mind.

Once Nick hung up the phone, he almost unconsciously slumped down onto a chair. His heart was still racing, despite his attempts to calm himself down. He wondered why these things always had to happen to him. Why he was the one with all the bad luck.

A few moments later, he found himself pacing around his house, unsure of what to do. After walking by a mirror on his wall, he looked at his reflection. Every time something would happen to him, he always found himself staring at his reflection -- staring at the damaged man looking back at him.

His face was drained of all color, and his eyes were red from the tears he so desperately was trying to hold back. He hated crying. He found himself thinking back to when he was nine. Thinking back to the longing for his mother. It had felt like an eternity before she ever came home. Even when she did return, he couldn't tell her what happened. He just tried to manage on his own. No one would ever have to find out about what happened.

His life had taken a turn for the better, and he finally thought that things would be okay until the night when he first had a gun in his face. Nick could still see Mrs. Hendler's face, her very expression as she held the gun up, her finger placed on the trigger. He'd thought for sure he was going to die, that was until Grissom had come in and saved him.

Finally after he'd shaken off what had happened to him that night, the incident with Nigel Crane had occurred. Having the gun in his face for a second time didn't bother him as much compared to the fact that he was finding out that he'd been watched for who knows how long? Compared to the fact that Nigel had been in his attic, watching Nick's every move, his every step.

He had tried to move on from every thing that had happened to him, until he was taken and placed in that box -- until he was buried alive under the soft brown earth. Until he was attacked by those ants, until he was mere seconds from taking his own life. Nick could feel the cold metal of his gun in his hand as he stared at his reflection, as his eyes remained glued to the mirror. Of course, there was no gun in his hand, it was just his imagination, but he could feel it there, just like he'd felt it there when he planned to shoot himself so that he wouldn't suffocate.

Subconsciously, he raised his hand and the imaginary gun up to his head as he thought back to his first therapy session that he had to go to before returning to work.

_"You're going to be okay, Nick." _

_"Yeah... until my rotten luck strikes again and something else happens to me." _

His finger pulled on the imaginary trigger, but there was no sound of a gunshot. He stood there, in front of his mirror -- just staring at himself-- with the imaginary gun placed to his head. He stood there for countless minutes until he finally realized what he was doing. He lowered his hand and stepped away from the mirror.

"There has to be a way out of there... there just has to be," he told himself softly, his voice barely above a whisper.


	5. Just A Lackey

**A/N: **Yikes! Sorry about taking so long to update this:( And I know it's really not very long, and I definitely apologize for that. I've been working part time, and going to school and doing homework, so that's not leaving me much time to write. But this morning I was up an hour or so earlier, because I have to get bloodwork done before I go to school, so I saw it as a perfect opportunity to get some writing done. Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing, and with the next update(which I hope will be soon) I will make it much longer. Also, I'm trying to write this in the point of view of the person who is stalking Nicky. So... it might be a bit confusing in parts, I tried to write and not give it away... but then I just got tired of it and yeah. In this chapter you start to realize who the stalker might be. Anywho, I shall stop rambling, for I have to go now! Let me know what you think if you'd like!

**

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Chapter 5 - Just A Lackey**

He'd never watched anyone before. His usual role was an accomplice. This was definitely outside of his league of comfort, and he loved it. Maybe it was sick, maybe it was twisted, but he loved this new adrenalin rush he got from watching carefully as a very panicked CSI puttered about, a prisoner in his own home.

Just because he hadn't watched Nick like this before, didn't mean that he didn't know who he was. He _definitely_ knew who Nick was. However, no body could possibly know exactly _how_ he knew Nick, and that also brought a twisted smile to his face.

All of his life he'd just been an accomplice, a lackey, the evil sidekick. But now he was the one calling the shots, and he loved it.

The last time that he'd seen Nick... well, Nick hadn't exactly been conscious. Walter Gordon had been the one who made him pass out and taken him into the vehicle.

_"Drive! Now!" Gordon commanded._

After driving to the specific spot, he had wanted to go with Gordon to bury Nick alive. He complained that he never got to do any of the fun stuff. He threatened to turn Gordon in if he didn't let him help.

Gordon had given in and decided to let the man _watch_. Not help, but watch. Gordon had been afraid that if the unexperienced man helped, than he would leave behind evidence that would get the both of them caught for the act of revenge.

Luckily, he'd been content with just being able to watch. Seeing Nick being placed into that box, being sealed up tight and buried underground had been one of the most exciting things he'd ever seen. He knew one day he'd be able to get that kind of satisfaction that only came from getting the revenge you so craved.

And with the death of Walter Gordon, he knew he was going to get that revenge, that satisfaction that he craved.

His original plan had absolutely nothing to do with Nick. He'd seen car-jackings on TV many times, and knew it would be easy to make his way into an unsuspecting victim's car, wait for them to drive off, and then order them to drive somewhere a little more secluded than a grocery store parking lot, and then kill them.

And then he had a wave of luck. From the back seat of that woman's car, he could see the face of a man who was probably helping the woman get her front door opened. He tried to get a look at the man's face, and when he did, he couldn't believe who he saw. It was Nick.

It was all too perfect, and all too horrible, all at the same time. If Nick had seen him, then for sure, he would mention it to the police. _But then the man had an idea..._

Practically everyone in Las Vegas who had a television set knew about the stalker incident that occurred with Nick years before. The man knew that would be a weakness of Nick's. All he had to do was stalk him... give him a good scare, and he would keep his mouth shut.

The man felt as if he was glowing, his plan had evolved and grown so nicely -- everything working so perfectly.

So that left him to where he stood now. Just watching, waiting to see if Nick was brave enough to make another move. Wondering if maybe Nick thought it was Nigel Crane who was watching him.

The man smiled a bit inside. Nigel Crane had been a master at the art of watching, of observing. The man was honoured to think that Nick had confused him with Crane. It made him feel like he was really good at what he was doing. It made him feel as if he was no longer just a lackey.


End file.
